Lagarde confident EU will agree on reparations loan for Ukraine
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said she is “fully confident” that European Union leaders will agree on a way to support Ukraine through a reparations loan, given the vital importance of the issue.
This was reported by Reuters, Ukrinform says.
At a press conference, responding to a question on whether she believed EU leaders would be able to agree on a plan for a reparations loan for Ukraine, Lagarde expressed confidence in a positive outcome.
“Given the importance of the issue and what is at stake, I am fully confident that they (EU leaders – ed.) will find a solution,” Lagarde said.
She reiterated that the EU plan must not violate international legal norms protecting sovereign assets, but said she expects a solution to be found.
"It might be in the usual European way, you know, going in circles and being time-consuming and giving rise to a lot of speculation as to whether it will work ... But I'm confident that we will find a solution," Lagarde said.
“Because it is too important,” she added.
Although Lagarde has frequently expressed the ECB’s position on the issue over the past 18 months, she said that the decision on how to proceed was ultimately a political one.
"Our job as a central bank is to determine that whatever choice is made by the (EU) leaders is going to respect the (EU) Treaty, is going to respect the international rule of law, and will not damage financial stability," the central bank chief explained.
As reported by Ukrinform, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that a “turning point” had been reached in Brussels among EU countries regarding financial assistance to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, although work on technical details is still ongoing.
On Thursday, December 18, in Brussels, financing for Ukraine was a priority issue at a meeting of EU leaders.
Photo: Adrian Petty / ECB